Institute for Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurial Education Partner
GRAFTON FIELD TRIP DAY
STOP 6 • Grafton Oyster Bar
Owner: Brad Hagen/Bread Pudding & Creole Master
“I primarily learned to cook from my grandma.”
Brad went to LCCC and then SIUE majoring in Finance. He worked at Anheuser Busch and had a bartending job at the Oyster Bar in St. Louis. Many nights he would close down the bar at 3:30am and then be at his day job at 8am.
When he went to the owner, John Johnson, and told him he wanted to be the executive chef, he told Brad he needed to prove himself and challenged him to cook three dishes for he and his wife. If you’ve had Brad’s food, you know he knocked it out of the park. In 2006 he lost his job at AB when they were bought out and he went to New Orleans to then become the executive chef at Oyster Bar in St. Louis.
In 2016, with the guidance of the original Oyster Bar owner - John Johnson, he opened the Grafton Oyster Bar. On an average weekend they are serving over 1500 plates! He loves the fast pace of a kitchen more than a cubicle. He emphasized to the students that you’re only as good as the people that work for you.
We had lunch here and it was delicious as always. The vast majority of their menu is all recipes made from scratch by Brad. Some of the students had never had the bread pudding and let’s just say they are planning to come back very soon!
Thank you for sharing your career story with us, Brad!
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